Distracting, irritating, and even painful - itchy skin can be a nightmare. Also known as pruritus, it's a condition that occurs when the skin barrier breaks down for several reasons and becomes more common with age.
The urge to scratch an itch comes when the nerve cells in the skin are stimulated. It can feel as severe as a minor electric shock or as distracting as an insect crawling across your skin, but the more often your nerve cells are stimulated, the itchier your skin will feel. Rough estimates suggest that we scratch an itch almost 100 times a day.
